Install

Download Cloaky Base for macOS or Linux, add your Venice key, choose an engine, and start your first session.

Early software notice. Cloaky Base is a new line and not finished. Downloading, installing, connecting a provider, and approving agent actions can cause data loss, unexpected changes, privacy exposure, security issues, or provider charges. Keep backups and use the app only on work you can afford to risk. Read the Terms of Use and Safety & responsible use before installing.

Download Cloaky Base

Cloaky Base is free. It runs on macOS 13 or later, on Apple silicon and Intel, and on x64 Linux. Every session runs on Venice. The model picker shows each model’s privacy tier before you start.

Early software. Download and use at your own risk. Keep backups, review permissions, and read the Terms and Safety guide before opening a build.

Every release attaches a SHA256SUMS file. To check a download, put it in the same folder and run shasum -a 256 -c --ignore-missing SHA256SUMS (sha256sum -c --ignore-missing SHA256SUMS on Linux).

First launch on macOS

Open the .dmg, drag the app into Applications, and eject the disk image. The workbench and its server are inside the app. Engines install separately, from setup or Settings → Engines. Cloaky Base needs macOS 13 (Ventura) or later.

macOS builds are signed with an Apple Developer ID certificate and notarized by Apple, with the notarization ticket stapled to the app. First launch shows macOS’s standard prompt for an app downloaded from the internet; choose Open. If macOS says the app is damaged or cannot be verified, the download did not complete or did not come from cloaky.dev or github.com/cloakydev/cloaky/releases; delete that copy and download it again.

Install only builds downloaded from cloaky.dev or that releases page. We do not guarantee that a build is free of malware, defects, or compatibility problems; the Terms of Use carry the full warranty disclaimer and liability limits.

Linux

Linux ships in three formats for x64: an AppImage, a deb package and an rpm package. Install the deb with sudo apt install ./Cloaky-<version>-amd64.deb, or the rpm with sudo dnf install ./Cloaky-<version>-x86_64.rpm. An AppImage needs the executable bit before it will run, so mark the file you downloaded executable with chmod +x and then run it. The AppImage also needs FUSE 2: the libfuse2 package (libfuse2t64 on Ubuntu 24.04 and later). Without it, start the AppImage with --appimage-extract-and-run.

The in-app terminal needs glibc 2.34 or later (Ubuntu 22.04, Debian 12, Fedora 35, RHEL 9).

Add your Venice key

Venice is the only inference destination in Cloaky Base. There is no second provider to configure and no other account involved: every session runs on Venice, on the model and tier you pick. On a Private model, prompt and response content is not retained after the request. Venice can still keep the operational metadata it needs for account, billing, abuse prevention, and reliability.

On first launch, setup asks which engines to use, then for a Venice API key, then for a model. The key lives in Settings → Venice & privacy and the default model in Settings → General, so you can change either later.

New installs start on GLM 5.3 Flash until you pick another. The model picker lists Venice’s models with the tier, the context window and the price of each, which is where you read the provider and privacy tier for a session before it starts.

Choose an engine

Cloaky Base runs five engines: Claude Code, OpenCode, Codex, Kimi Code and Grok Build. All five send their model calls to Venice. Engines don’t come inside the app. On first launch, the Choose your engines step finds the engines already on your machine and shows each vendor’s install command for the rest. In Settings → Engines you can install any engine (the vendor’s command runs in the in-app terminal), and update or turn off any engine but Claude Code.

Start your first session

1. Launch Cloaky Base and finish setup: engines, Venice key, model.
2. Open a project folder.
3. Choose a model and read its provider and privacy tier in the picker.
4. Pick Claude Code or any other engine you installed.
5. Start a session and describe the work.

The default permission mode is Accept edits: file edits proceed, while shell commands and other consequential actions pause for your approval. Bypassing permissions is always an explicit choice.

From there the workbench is the rest of the app. Review the diff with line comments and commit or push from it; rewind to a restore point when a turn goes wrong; hand work to subagents; set up bots and squads with routines; watch the cost readout as the session runs.

Data and credentials

Cloaky Base keeps settings, your Venice key, transcripts, session and recovery metadata, cost records and command history in ~/.cloaky on your device, and unsent drafts in the app’s own storage. The key is sealed with the system keychain where one is available; on Linux without a keyring it is a file only your user can read. Credentials stay on the device and are not sent to the browser. The engine you run may also keep its own transcripts.

Read Privacy before a sensitive session for what each Venice tier does and does not cover.

Updates

Setup offers Check for updates automatically on its first and last steps. Change it, or check by hand, in Settings → General → This Mac (This computer on Linux). On Linux, an update to a deb or rpm install asks for your password, since it installs as a system package. Settings, sessions and local records live outside the app, in ~/.cloaky, and stay in place across updates.

If you ran the public beta

The v0.2 public beta is closed. An installed beta build keeps working, but it will not receive any further updates. Cloaky Base uses the same app name and the same ~/.cloaky folder as the beta. Installing it replaces the beta app and reuses its settings and sessions. To start fresh, quit the beta and move ~/.cloaky aside first. The public beta has ended explains what changed and why.

Cloaky Pro

Local models through Ollama and LM Studio, direct providers such as a Claude subscription, an OpenAI-compatible endpoint or a GLM or Kimi coding plan, custom profiles, hybrid hosted planning with local execution, and the Cursor and Prime Agent engines are Cloaky Pro features. Pro is in a private build with no public download.

To ask for it, email hello@cloaky.dev with what you would do with it. The user study group gets Pro. Routes in Base and Pro covers each route in detail.